Of Love Daemons and a French man

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Youkai's part
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Sage staggered into the kitchen, appearing achy and exhausted. Dropping into one of the kitchen stools he slouched and dropped his bokken by his feet..

"You Know Sage, I have come to the conclusions that when in need to be at peace or to think you run off into the woods with your Bokken to terrorize the poor animals of the forest." Rowen teased from kitchen counter. "What happened to just plane old meditating?"

Sage raised his head and smiled without humor, "Rowen, what would you know about being at peace? Your idea of clearing your mind is to sleep all day."

Well, at least it's normal…"Wow man, what's up?" Rowen shook his hands in front of him, "I've heard of early groggy heads, but don't you think you're over doing it? It's a new day, a new world . . ."

Sage's eyes rolled before he replied, "Rowen, to the point,"

Rowen roughly shoved his hands in his pockets. "Okay, what's eating you?!"

"Truth be told…" he paused for a good measure, "I don't have the slightest clue."

"Why did I know you were going to say that," Rowen grumbled, "Seriously though, does your uneasiness have anything to do with Red head?"

"Actually, he's one of two reasons, but that's not what I'm worrying about."

"What's the other reason?" Rowen's eyebrows arched in a narrow line.

"Something is amiss, out of place. I assume?" Sage leaned forward, "There are eight occupants in this house right now and for some reason I sense there is another."

"Go on,"

"The part which alerted me was while I sat at the table with Mia the other day. I could have sworn there was some kind aurora surrounding her, engulfing, like it was watching her. The aurora was dark and almost undetectable; I never felt anything like it. I've noticed that Gravelam had a similar aurora like Mia, except it seemed to be linked with the aurora itself, as though…as…gods?" Sage slammed his fist on the table, "I don't know and its driving me nuts."

"Should we look into it?"

He tapped his finger against the table, deciding whether it was important or not, "No, I don't think that's wise. Whatever I sense, it's doing a pretty good job at keeping at bay."

"Should we tell the others? I mean, Sage, you're pretty accurate at sensing things, I don't want to over look this."

"What did you see?" He said, smirking with mirth.

"Not what I saw, but what I smelt."

Sage laughed, "That may have been Kento."

"Sage, not that kind of smell! Sandalwood, you dolt!"

"That's a pretty nice smell, why does it bother you?"

"Because no one in this house, except you likes that stuff. And you haven't had any incense in the house since I threw it out. So, tell me why I smell it?"

"If this is important, Rowen, I would hate to see what an emergency is."

"Sage, the sandalwood scent came from Mia's room, and then it disappeared, not exactly normal for a fume that floats in the air."

Sage's brows tilted as he looked at Rowen uncertainly. Sage could understand Rowen's curiosity but he didn't think it was linked to anything important. Or was there something he was over looking?

Smothering a groan, Rowen continued. "I didn't think about it until you mentioned sensing another aurora in the house. Sage, Sandalwood is an ancient scent that is thought to represent souls of sprits. You know this for a fact, Sage. Incense in Japan dates back to the sixth century. In the shogunate period of the 14th century, the samurai warriors such as yourself take a certain pride in using incense and were the first to make them widely popular. It relaxes and achieves peace of mind and sometimes we use it for the dead, honoring the spirits."

"I don't know Rowen? Now I'm twice as confused as you are. You said that it came from Mia's room?"

Rowen nodded cautiously. "She never uses them, so why would she start now?"

"Well, then maybe I should look into it?"

A new voice echoed through the room, interrupting the conversation, "Whoa man, going into Mia's room all ready! Hey Sage, don't you think that's a little fast?"

"KENTO!" Rowen shouted angrily, "Please don't tease Sage like that."

"Just coming down for some grub guys! Geez, can't a man eat?" Casually, Kento walked over to the fridge.

Sage gave an agitated grunt, "How is it possible for man to be a human dumpster?"

Kento came from the fridge with a bowl of instant ramen noodles and soda, "Only the gifted have such ability, right Ro-man?"

Rowen smiled and shrugged, "Yeah, he has you there Sage. Healthy men tend to eat a lot. And we Japanese men are so lucky when it comes to food. We eat more than anyone could possibly imagine and we still keep our slim figures."

Kento walked to where Rowen was standing and slapped him on him on the back. "That's my man! But we Chinese guys can eat more than you and still look a lot better."

"You wish you prick."

"Are you trying to say something slim legged?"

"Maybe I am!"

Groaning from irritation, Sage rose to his feet and retreated upstairs. He wasn't in the mood to be a referee to their argument. That was Cye's job.


~~~~

Around mid-day Sage quietly crept towards Mia's room, being careful not to disturb anything. This is so stupid! I feel like a child sneaking on my sisters. He shuddered. That brings back some bad memories. Memories he didn't want to remember for they were filled of a childhood where he was sick and passed off as a female. His family did this because his grandfather believed it was a sign that when a male was born weak he should have been a woman instead. Sage spent his whole life as a child trying to prove his grandfather otherwise and he eventually did through strength and stamina. The bad part was while he was young his sisters had partake in a certain pleasure which was dressing him up in the most embarrassing outfits. No wonder his personal life with women was suck a wreck.

Second, minutes and nearly a half an hour later and Sage couldn't find anything out of the ordinary. "Damn it! What the heck am I looking for?" Irritably he walked over to Mia's bed and fainted backwards. Okay, no sandalwood, no aurora, no sprits, so why am I still here? . . .

A small amount of energy emitted from Mia's window, causing him to rise from her bed. He glared to his right and noticed an old box by her windowpane. The box was crowded with a mysterious energy. He cautiously approached the box and picked it up.

"What do we have here?" he whispered. He gently sprawled his strong hand over the box, trying to inspect it. Nothing!? Angered he looked harder, concentrated harder. The box had some kind of energy, but he couldn't detect what substance it was made of.

"Kento! Get out of the bathroom!" Cye yelled from outside the room.

"Cye, use my bathroom." Mia laughed, pausing from turning her knob and opening the door.

Sage looked towards the door and back to the box, narrowing his cold eyes. What ever this box is, it's definitely not any ordinary wooden box. Someone cursed a shield so no one would pry into its protective barrier. He grinned, Amateurs, that's a dead give away to something amiss…

~~~~~

"Sage?" Mia was surprised to see him open the door as she was about to turn the knob.

Smiling he replied. "Sorry, but Kento got to the bathroom first."

Blushing Mia nodded and entered her room, excepting the explanation.

~~~~~


Sage came out from his shower with a towel wrapped around his narrow waist. He stooped at the foot of his bed and was about to change into a pair of slacks and a dress shirt when he noticed something was missing. The chocolates on his desk were gone. Spreading his hands on top his mattress he gritted his teeth. I'm going to kill him!